Where to begin?

Oh, what a wonderfully full weekend. Where to start? Jen, one of my best friends in the whole world, (and best hiking buddy, ever) got married this weekend. (The photographer Brad Ross has some great photos up on his site, over here.) I was the maid of honor, and had a great time. I can’t wait to see more of the photos. I didn’t really get very many, too busy dancing and making sure Jen didn’t need help with anything. (She barely did, a really low-maintenance but absolutely beautiful bride!) Jen treated her bridal party to manicure/pedicures at the Spirit Spa, I think its the first time in years I’ve had my nails done. Then hair done all up, and dress-up time at the Bridewater Manor… and wedding time! It was a beautiful ceremony, and fun reception…. congrats to Jen and Andrew! (Remember the vague-ish veil photos from earlier? That’s it in the photo to the left!)

Of course, what would Memorial Day weekend be like without a few BBQ’s? Jen’s Dad is really one of my favorite friends’ Dads… this is why:

Jen’s Dad sets off a cannon

Sweet Pea Trellis

The rest of the weekend had some gardening, trellis building, BBQ’ing and fresh-caught-trout eating.

The trellis Eric and I build years ago fell down a season or two ago. But the sweet peas still grew, and so I set about to re-build it, to give them some support. Last time I was stuck on the idea of building it out of only natural materials- it was mostly vines, tied with bark and grasses. This go-around I had less time and less help (though mom came back and helped with the second half) so I used mostly forsythia and some cotton cord. Much easier, and probably more stable, too. It could use some more support, but we ran out of time.
Oh, and I also got to go on motorcycle ride with my Dad, which was a lot of fun. The ride ended at the clubhouse, full of awesome mustaches and tattoos… we didn’t hang around very long, but did get to see a woman win the ‘slowest rider’ competition.

The weekend ended with an impromptu BBQ back in Philly, lovely and low-key. Oh, if every weekend could be a three-day weekend….